After Earth was returned home, the Children of Time continued their lives and the Doctor was left alone, same as ever. As he tried to move on, Earth began to move on as well, spreading Torchwood throughout the globe in efforts of learning more and being prepared against aliens and possible threats. Meanwhile, Rose was back in the parallel universe with the Meta-Crisis Doctor as they tried to begin their lives together, Martha and Mickey began an interest in each other, and Donna sat at home, living the same empty life she had had before she ever met the Doctor. Meanwhile, the Doctor had met 'himself' at Christmas in London's past with the Cybermen, and had quite the experience on a bus when they suddenly ended up on another world.

Upon being reminded of the Master after the events of the wormhole and the Planet of the Dead, the Doctor took a look at some charts he had found on the Valiant the day that the Master had died in his arms. Finding a chart of the constellation of Kasterborous and E-Space, the Doctor went into further inspection with his discovery. What he found was both shocking and surprising - a generation ship with thousands of Time Lords and Ladies known as the Hand of Time, locked in stasis, just waiting for him to find them! Elaborate plans had been made, allowing him to jerk the ship from the temporal gate of E-Space in the middle of the constellation, something like a galactic sling-shot, releasing the universe again and allowing him to take the Time Lords back to the remains of Gallifrey.

This Hand of Time  the faithful, the rogues, the leftovers, and really just whomever they had been able to convince to go along with them  were those who had followed Romana to this generation ship at the end of the Time War. With Gallifrey under a new President, this reborn Rassilon, Romana did what she could to save some of her people and her planet. Now released, the Hand of Time is free to slowly start rebuilding Gallifrey with terraforming technology and the like.

Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, the effects of the energy released from the 'galactic sling-shot' has produced interesting events. The energy apparently had a sort of drawback on anyone that had been involved with space and time. This first was seen as Rose Tyler appeared on the beach of Bad Wolf Bay, back in her own universe, with the Meta-Crisis Doctor, her family, and Jake. Later, Torchwood got a surprise as members of their team Tosh and Owen came back to join them from what they had thought to be their eternal rest. Then, a certain Donna Noble began to feel ill and experience strange dreams on her wedding night, the beginning of her regained memory.

Then, due to the Cult of Saxon, the Master was reborn. He did what he did best  try to again become the Master of the universe. Unfortunately, he also brought the Time Lords back in the process, which was a huge danger to both himself and the Doctor. The drums within his head ended up being the link between the Time Lords in the Time Lock, and after the Doctor destroyed that link, the Master attempted to kill Rassilon  only to be pulled into the Time Lock himself. However, the sling-shot of energy from the release of the Hand of Time ship still echoed back through time  allowing the Master to grab on and escape the Time Lock.

Yet he was still dying... still weak and trapped. But, for all that, there was one other thing he still was... he was STILL the Master. Manipulating a group of bodiless ghosts known as the Gelth, The Master escaped his death by sneaking onboard the Hand of Time and attempting to steal the regenerations of one newly regenerated Akytior AKA Susan Foreman. Foiled by the Doctor, the Master nevertheless reached his ultimate goal when, upon regaining his old TARDIS, used the damaged ship to repair his form and then regenerated into a new body.

While the survival of the Master remains unknown to the universe at large, strange things have still been happening that are known to all. One day... nobody died. While Torchwood's other branches and the Time Agency raced to try and solve this crisis, only to be stopped at every turn by almost every organization on Earth, it was solved by the most unlikely group imaginable... a deactivated branch led by one of the Time Agency's former finest. And then... the Doctor died. Somehow, some way, the whole of reality was cut off from Earth. Trapped within a bubble, with a simple message reaching out over and over... The Doctor is Dying... please help.

And across the stars... everyone answered.

Gathering some of his best mates together Jack Harkness and the Meta teamed up with the help of Rose Tyler to try and break through the bubble. But nothing they did could stop the sound of those terrible bells as the clock struck... and the Doctor died.

Or so it was thought.

John and Rose of course know better, they can sense the Doctor... but they haven't hunted for him. Rose is of course hurt that the Doctor has barely spoken to her in all this time. Besides, the 'line' drawn between them and the Doctor remains as wide as ever as he still will not even 'think' of the New Gallifrey as home.

And while the Doctor retreats into the shadows, he discovers an impossible girl, one that he has met twice before - at least. Both times she died, and the Doctor was determined this time to prootect her and find out just who she is. Now that he's discovered just who she is and what she means, they'll continue to travel together. Meanwhile, the Master moves ever closer towards the light... confident that this time... THIS time... he will rise... and bring a NEW Order to all of Time and Space.